Nuggets coach Michael Malone watches the action against the Charlotte Hornets during a game at the Pepsi Center on Sunday, Jan. 10, 2016. (AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post)

If Friday night’s game at Sacramento means more to Nuggets coach Michael Malone than any other, he won the award for Best Poker Face in practices this week. He simply did not let it show.

This is the franchise that fired him less than two years into his tenure there. With the team playing well. With things looking up, a culture of toughness and defense being implemented. With their sometimes-combustible star, DeMarcus Cousins, as happy as he’s been with any coach.

None of that mattered.

On Dec. 14, 2014, the Kings pulled the plug on Malone’s first foray into being a head coach. This is his first meeting against them since then. Read more…

On Wednesday, new Nuggets coach Michael Malone was given a chance to clarify his relationship with former Sacramento general manager Pete D’Alessandro, now back with the Nuggets as senior vice president of business.

In an interview with The Denver Post, Malone said there were a lot of misconceptions, and that the two are on good terms.

“You would be surprised how many messages I got when they hired Pete here, paraphrasing: ‘Ah, coach, that sucks. I really hoped you were going to get the Denver job, but that’s not going to happen now,'” Malone said. “People don’t realize, Pete and I never had any problems.”

We don’t know what Nuggets general manager Tim Connelly and head coach Brian Shaw ultimately have in store in putting their stamp on reworking the Nuggets roster.

But we have clues.

Those clues came in the first few weeks after both were hired in 2014. Shaw talked about playing inside, out. He talked about playing smashmouth basketball. Yet those are things his teams have never been able to get to, in either year of his coaching tenure.

But that won’t be the case for long. The Nuggets will get to work on constructing a team that plays that way, because if Shaw is going to go down he’s going to go down playing the type of basketball he wants to play.

There’s not one surefire way to makeover a roster. In this case, using what little we know we’ve blended free agency and the draft in a way that checks off many of the boxes.

So, for entertainment purposes only, this is how the Nuggets can get from here — 20-33 at the All Star break — to something different, and better, in the future.

Kenneth Faried shoots over Jeff Withey of the New Orleans Pelicans in a game at Pepsi Center last season. (John Leyba, The Denver Post)

The Nuggets may have finished with their worst record (36-46) in a decade and failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 2003, but they did rank in the top 10 among NBA teams in one notable category: profitability.

According to Grantland’s Zach Lowe, who acquired and verified an official memo the league sent out to all 30 teams in June, the Nuggets benefited nicely from the league’s revenue-sharing to rank No. 8 among teams in projected profitability for 2013-14, despite an otherwise forgettable season. An exact figure was not mentioned in the report.

Below are the top teams ranked in order projected profitability, followed by others mentioned in Lowe’s report:

George Karl said he would be like to be considered for any of the league’s coaching vacancies, including the Lakers, Warriors, Knicks and Pistons. (Karl Gehring, The Denver Post)

Former Nuggets coach George Karl wants to “get back in the gym” and expects to receive a call from the Lakers’ brass about their coaching vacancy, according to reports.

Karl, an ESPN analyst who was named the NBA’s 2013 NBA Coach of the Year after leading the Nuggets to a 57-win season, said he has not talked to Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak recently but that “Mitch will probably give me a phone conversation along the way.”

While talking on SiriusXM’s “Off the Dribble,” Karl said that he and Kupchak were roommates at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and have remained friends over the years.

Former Denver Nuggets head coach George Karl is in talks with the Cleveland Cavaliers for a front-office job. (AAron Ontiveroz, Denver Post file)

Former Nuggets coach and current ESPN analyst George Karl is said to be vying for a front-office gig with Cavaliers — a gig that doesn’t yet exist with the franchise. The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported that the Karl, the 2013 NBA coach of the year, is hoping to be added to the list of candidates should Dan Gilbert, the franchise’s owner, consider adding a president of basketball operations.

Want an early small peek into what Andre Iguodala’s free agency might look like; the financial hurdles the Nuggets might have to overcome in order to keep him?

New Nuggets executive Tim Connelly, who came to Denver from New Orleans, can give you that peek.

“I’m very aware of the free agent landscape,” Connelly said. “In New Orleans we had about $14 million to spend; a small forward might be a position we looked at. So I’m aware of what potential lies out there for him.”

The Nuggets’ media guide will need an extensive makeover for next season as the mass exodus continues out of their front office.

Nuggets director of player personnel, Mike Bratz, and scouting director, Dan Tolzman, are both leaving the organization. Tolzman will join former Nuggets executive vice president of basketball operations, Masai Ujiri, in Toronto.

Bratz’s and Tolman’s departures bring the number of front office individuals (including the coach) not returning to the Nuggets for next season up to five – coach George Karl, Ujiri, vice president of basketball operations Pete D’Alessandro, Bratz and Tolzman.

Tim Connelly, the new executive vice president of basketball operations for the Denver Nuggets. (Provided by New Orleans Pelicans)

The Nuggets have hired Tim Connelly as their new general manager, team president Josh Kroenke told The Denver Post Monday morning. Connelly’s official title is executive vice president of basketball operations. The New Orleans Pelicans assistant general manager will take over for Masai Ujiri, who left to take over as general manager in Toronto.

Meanwhile, Indiana Pacers assistant Brian Shaw will interview Tuesday for the Nuggets’ coaching vacancy, an NBA source told The Denver Post on Monday morning. Memphis Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins, the other top candidate, will interview on Wednesday, as Denver looks to replace the fired George Karl.

** Jeff Van Gundy, who appeared to be the top Clippers coaching candidate, is no longer a candidate, according to Yahoo Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski. Other candidates include Byron Scott, Lionel Hollins, Alvin Gentry and Karl.

Word leaked Tuesday that Denver Nuggets general manager Masai Ujiri said he was leaving for a new job with the Toronto Raptors. Only, it wasn’t actually Ujiri who said it, it was @MasaiUjiriGM — a fake Twitter account that since has been suspended.

No big deal — it’s not the first fake Twitter account. Except, this time, the fake quote from the fake account spurred real NBC to post a real story that the real Ujiri was really leaving.

The Toronto Raptors have targeted Masai Ujiri as their top candidate for general manager, this reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports. Ujiri was an assistant general manager in Toronto before joining Denver in the summer of 2010.

Ujiri is the reigning executive of the year in the NBA. And his contract is up. Nuggets president Josh Kroenke had told me and nuggets.com a couple weeks ago, “For the fans, they should know that Masai wants to be here, and I think he enjoys working for me. And I think we make a pretty good team, along with Pete (D’Alessandro, the vice president of basketball operations) … and the rest of our scouting staff. So I wouldn’t anticipate any issues there.”

That’s how Nuggets executive Masai Ujiri described the snubbing of Andre Iguodala, who wasn’t named to either the NBA’s first or second team all-defense. Advanced stats and the old-fashioned eye test both prove that the Nuggets guard is an elite defender, but he was left off the teams, voted upon by the 30 NBA coaches.

“It’s mind-boggling to me,” Ujiri said in a statement to The Denver Post. “I mean, when the US Olympic team enlists a defensive stopper, there is no question who they choose – Andre Iguodala. Yet, for some reason he can’t be considered one of the top-10 defensive players in the NBA? It’s just shocking that he continues to be overlooked as a world-class defender in our league. I honestly thought he should be in the conversation for defensive player of the year, let alone first or even second team all-defense.”

Iguodala, who has only once made an all-defensive team, tweeted from @andre: “Politics as Usual…”

Iguodala helped transform Denver’s defense into one of the sturdier units in the Western Conference, complementing Denver’s full-throttle pace in transition. He is currently contemplating what to do with his career – he could opt out of $16 million for this coming season and become a free agent, with the ability to sign a five-year contract with Denver, four with any other team.

* “We have to make this place attractive to players. We can’t sit down here and cry ‘small market.’ There are tons of players in the NBA and I think they will come here eventually. There are trends in the NBA. … We have to attract the Iguodalas, we have to keep the Gallos and grow the Lawsons and all these players here. We have to grow our own players and believe in ourselves. Our system, coach, style of play – it’s attractive. And we’re going to transform that into winning big-time. That’s what we want to do here.”

* “This city has been great – we will continue to take this energy into the offseason, get our players better and do whatever we have to do to get better. We are a growing team, and we knew there were going to be pains, and this is part of the process.”

* “My continent (of Africa) means so much to me – it’s a big part of my life. Basketball Without Borders continues to be a big part of my life. … The NBA has done a great job of spreading the word and giving us a chance to do what we do in Africa and develop the game there.”

If others outside of the Nuggets organization are displaying more than just the normal amount of concern for the direction of the franchise, those in it are keeping level heads.

At, or near the top of that list is Nuggets general manager Masai Ujiri, who doesn’t even have a contract extension himself. Speaking on 9News’ late Sunday night sports program ‘Overtime,’ Ujiri said despite a disappointing finish in a first-round loss to Golden State there is no worry about the future.

“I think it’s nothing that we need to panic about,” Ujiri said. “We will fix it. We knew we had a growing team and there would be growing pains, and we will fix the problems.”

The Nuggets won a franchise-record 57 games total, had a 15-game win streak during the season, had a 24-game home win streak and won a franchise-record 38 home games this season. All of those numbers exceeded preseason expectations for the team, which was billed as one that, while talented, still needed experience.

“We just built a team that we thought could grow,” Ujiri said. “And they really played hard, the team started to come together.”

The travel plan for early May was San Antonio. But with the Nuggets season prematurely over, Andre Iguodala is now heading to Los Angeles for some free time — and to mull his future.

See, the Denver guard can make $16 million next season, but he has the choice to opt out of his contract and sign a new, longer deal with Denver or with another team. Re-signing with the Nuggets would give him a chance to sign for an additional fifth season and give him security. But other teams, notably Dallas and Atlanta, will have ample salary cap space this summer.

“When I got to Los Angeles and sit down and talk to my agent — we’ll start having conversations,” Iguodala said Friday at Pepsi Center. “I didn’t really think the season would be ending this early. It was never on my mind what I would do next year. My whole thought process was about how deep we can go, and how can we improve on the team we have right now.”

The Nuggets lost 4-2 in the first round to Golden State, the Game 6 loss on Thursday at Oracle Arena.

This is speculative, but Iguodala could sign with Denver for about $48 million for four seasons. Some teams might be willing to go into the $50 million range. But a lot of signings are based on other signings, so again, it’s speculative. Iguodala turned 29 this season, and after another rewarding experience with Team USA last summer at the London Olympics, he understandably appreciates playing with mature, talented players.

Asked if ho these playoffs played out gives him less hope of future success in Denver, he said, “It doesn’t give me less hope, especially considering we had our one of our leading scorers (Danilo Gallinari) down and our youth – they have nowhere to go but up, and that’s something you have to take into consideration. …

“I know what type of potential this team has; so that won’t weight heavily on my decision. … The timeline of my career going forward, I definitely want to win a championship. At the same time, it’s a business, but I don;t think it’s a factor. The front office knows what I bring to the team, so we’ll see what happens. There are so many factors that I haven’t even thought of yet. Which is why I’ll just sit down and weight all my options, take my time with it, and not rush into anything.”

Can this Nuggets nucleus someday win a title?

“I think we have the opportunity,” Iguodala said. “We have some ingredients and I think the pieces that are missing – Masai [Ujiri] has found a way to bring that in. I think that started with bringing me here. He’s really hungry, Coach [George] Karl is hungry, and we have a lot of hungry players as well.”

On Friday morning, Nuggets executive Masai Ujiri told Denver-based radio show “Evans & Klatt” that he doubts Kenneth Faried (ankle) will play in Saturday’s Game 1. But Ujiri said that the two days off before Game 2 could give Faried enough rest to be ready for Tuesday.

Ujiri reiterated in a text to me that “we’ll see how today goes” and that ultimately the decision is that of Faried and the team’s medical staff.

Faried was asked Thursday if he would play in Game 1 and said: “Hopefully. I’m not making any promises, but if I’m cleared, I’m playing.”

The power forward Faried has undergone treatment for 3-4 hours a day, coach George Karl said. He hasn’t played since injuring his ankle last Sunday.

“When it first happened, I thought something broke,” Faried said Thursday, the first day he spoke publicly since Sunday. “I couldn’t put any pressure on it, it was hurting. But when the X-rays came back negative, I was happy.

“I feel physically better, I can walk without a boot, I can walk barefoot now, it’s just getting better and better each day. If I can walk, I can play – we’ll just see how good the tape job is.”

Faried provides energy unlike any other player on Denver’s roster, ferociously rebounding on both ends of the court, running the floor with the purpose. He averaged 11.5 points per game and 9.2 rebounds for Denver. Wilson Chandler has been starting in his place.

After a week off to celebrate Presidents Day and Valentine’s Day (I combined the two and dressed up as a sexy Rutherford B. Hayes), we’re back at it with this week’s Nuggets podcast, The Podcastanza!

Give it a listen (or subscribe for free on iTunes).

In this Podcastanza, Nate Kreckman and I talk about …

* Are the Nuggets contenders? And should fans be mad if Masai Ujiri says they aren’t this year?
* Why is Denver playing such good basketball lately?
* What’s up with Iguodala?
* Nate reveals that he watches “The Bachelor.”
* Ben reveals that he had frosted tips in college.

CLEVELAND – If Nuggets coach George Karl is to be believed – more on that in a minute – his organization is in a precarious place as the trade deadline speeds towards the NBA, arriving on Feb. 21.

The Nuggets are in fourth place in the Western Conference, and rising. Their inexperienced players – most notably Kenneth Faried – are improving at a steady rate. There aren’t many expiring contracts to take advantage of, though Timofey Mozgov and Corey Brewer both fit the bill there. Brewer has expressed his desire to stay while Mozgov expressed his desire to play anywhere.

And while Mozgov has been one of the most inquired-about Nuggets, there remains huge question marks as to whether the team will deal anyone at all. Karl emphasized that point after today’s shootaround at Quicken Loans Arena.

Chris Dempsey arrived at The Denver Post in Dec. 2003 after seven years at the Boulder Daily Camera, where he primarily covered the University of Colorado football and men's basketball teams. A University of Colorado-Boulder alumnus, Dempsey covers the Nuggets and also chips in on college sports.